Baking for Love
by zekeandryan4ever
Summary: Zeke begins to question his sexuality after developing an attraction to Ryan. Deciding to mask his attraction to Ryan with Sharpay, Zeke brainstorms ways he can get closer to Ryan.
Zeke was high with adrenaline. In the past hour, his team won the championship game and his school came together as one. Never before had he felt so connected to his classmates. Of course Zeke always had his team, he knew they had his back, but he wanted more. As a baker, Zeke knew the importance of combining different ingredients in order to create something delicious and beautiful—and today, East High achieved that. Because a jock connected with a science girl, the entire school threw away their labels and connected with one another.

Zeke's brow was fresh with sweat from the game and the dancing, but he wanted to stick around the court to make sure he got to see Ryan. Everyone thought Zeke was in love with Sharpay, and that was fine with him—for now, anyway. Sometimes it was really hard to keep up the act. Sharpay is difficult, and it's hard to continuously get shut down, even if he didn't actually love her. In fact, Zeke wasn't attracted to Sharpay in the slightest.

It was Ryan, Sharpay's twin brother, who fascinated Zeke.

Most people didn't notice Ryan. Well, they did to some extent because he was always with Sharpay, but no one _saw_ him for who he was independent of Sharpay. Who was Ryan Evans? Zeke needed to know. That's where he came up with the whole hitting-on-Sharpay thing. It started at the beginning of Junior year, when Ryan and Zeke were in AP U.S. History together. Ryan sat two seats to the right of him, by the window with the pencil sharpener. Zeke went through probably two pencils a week because he would get up and sharpen them so often, just to smell the sweet of Ryan's cologne, to watch the curve of his neck as he wrote.

Zeke wasn't sure of his sexuality. His first kiss was Kelsi Nielsen back in the 8th grade, behind the oak tree during Troy's birthday party. She was small and quiet, really into band, and definitely not the type his teammates would've approved of for him. The only reason she was at Troy's birthday party was because she lived down the street and her dad played basketball with Coach Bolton back in the day. Her lips were soft, like the inside of the peaches that grew in his backyard.

Since that one kiss with Kelsi, Zeke had fooled around with a couple girls who were counselors at the music camp close to the basketball camp he coached at over the summers. It was fun, and definitely even more fun to brag about in the locker rooms, but he'd never met anyone who really struck him. Most kids in high school don't usually meet the loves of their lives, but hey, look at Gabrielle and Troy. They definitely found something special.

Zeke ran to the bleachers, where his sports bag lay strewn beneath the front row. He grabbed it and saw Sharpay and Ryan start to make their way to leave. Quickly he ran over and cut them off.

"Hey Sharpay, I'm sorry you didn't get the lead, but I think you're really good…I admire you so much," he said, turning his head to face Ryan for the last part.

"And why wouldn't you? Now, bye bye," Sharpay shot back, her arms angry and crossed.

"Oh, wait! I baked you some cookies," Zeke said as he pulled the Tupperware out of his gym bag.

"Ew," Sharpay said and she walked away

Ryan hung behind and took the cookies from Zeke's hand, brushing his cool fingers along his palm.

"Nice game," Ryan said, his cobalt blue eyes catching Zeke's, flashing him a hint of a crooked smile. He turned away and quickly caught up with Sharpay.

Zeke stood still as the rest of the school filtered out of the gym, feeling a flutter in his chest he hadn't ever felt before. He smiled to himself, grabbed a ball, and casually threw it to the basket. _Swish_.

Ryan knew he was gay since he was a little kid. When Ryan and Sharpay were seven, they were playing by the slide with some kids they met. There was a boy named Tommy who Sharpay had a crush on. Sharpay would talk to Ryan about her crush, and Ryan would respond in excited agreement. Wrapped up in her own feelings and not understanding that a boy could _like_ a boy, she never thought anything of it. Sharpay pulled Ryan aside, her blond hair bouncing in her pigtails.

"You have to go tell Tommy to meet me by the swings," Sharpay instructed.

"Why? Can I come?" Ryan asked.

"Of course not. I love him and I want to tell him that," Sharpay quickly responded.

"Well what if I love him too?" Ryan questioned.

"Don't be silly. You're a _boy_ and so is he. Don't worry, you can love girls," Sharpay said.

For the first time in his life Ryan felt disconnected from Sharpay. He gave a weak nod and walked over to Tommy, telling him that there was someone waiting for him by the swings. Ryan looked back to see Sharpay twisting her hair around her finger, giggling to herself.

Ryan walked away and sat on the bench next to their mom. He wasn't angry with Sharpay but more confused at himself—confused that what he felt wasn't immediately and organically understood by his twin sister.

He and Sharpay did everything together—they shared baths, clothes, toys, music teachers. Even though they were, at the root, very different from one another, Ryan and Sharpay were peas in a pod since their birth. Having a sister as domineering as Sharpay was difficult to escape, and though Ryan definitely recognized her vanity and manipulative tendencies, he loved her all the same. She needed him. Without Ryan, Sharpay didn't have anyone—or at least anyone real or genuine—to lean on.

They started dancing together when they were nine, after both of them refused to ever go to another sports practice (Sharpay once peed her pants while she was going up to bat for t-ball). Their mom signed them up for a dance-intense summer camp in New York, and it was there were they discovered their musical talents as well. After that summer the two were recommended to voice teachers and dance coaches, and spent all of their free time auditioning for shows together. Naturally they both usually landed the main parts, and they knew each other so well that they didn't need to spend time working on creating on-stage chemistry.

As they spent more and more time in New York and the theater world, it became pretty obvious to Sharpay that Ryan was gay, especially after she saw him and a male dance extra holding hands backstage. But being a gay kid in Albuquerque didn't offer Ryan many opportunities to meet other kids like himself.

That night, Zeke couldn't sleep. How could he with the day he'd had? He was buzzing with excitement but also slight anxiety. After tossing and turning for an hour, he got up from bed and did what always helped him calm down and think—he baked. Sometimes times like these called for the excitement of a new recipe, but tonight he needed to go with comfort. It was 2:30am and Zeke rolled out of bed and went to his closet, where he kept his grandpa's apron. His family always used to play around and make fun of his grandpa for being the baker of the family instead of his grandma, but that's where Zeke learned everything he knew about baking. Ever since he was a little kid, he would go over to his grandpa's house on Saturday mornings, and he would sit atop the kitchen counter and watch his grandpa bake—his wrinkled skin always pulled into a smile. The time they spent together meant more to him than anything he did all week. It was their time, and his grandpa always made him laugh.

His grandpa died when he was 14. He had a heart attack in his sleep. Painless. For the funeral, Zeke wanted to find a way to honor his grandpa. So, he did what felt right. He baked. The recipe was burned into his brain, and every move he made in the kitchen felt like his grandpa was guiding his hand as he poured, stirred, and mixed. That batch wasn't the best he'd ever had, but it was familiar and that was all that mattered. As he grieved his loss, baking offered structure and distraction and an opportunity to think and process. It wasn't long before it became a passion, too.

As he baked he thought about Ryan.

He had only felt his skin for a second, but it left him thirsting for more. What would his teammates say? Would they care? They were all freaked out when they found out Zeke baked...he didn't want to think about how they would take him crushing on a boy. It was best to continue the Sharpay act up and hope it could give him more of an excuse to get close to Ryan.

When the cookies were cooling, Zeke carefully folded up his grandpa's apron and went back to bed.

Zeke came up with a master-plan on how he could try to woo Sharpay in order to become closer to Ryan. Think about it—the more time he spent with Sharpay, the easier it would be to get to know Ryan. Even though both Sharpay and Ryan were understudies to Troy and Gabriella in the Spring musical, they had to be at every rehearsal just in case they needed to take over for them. Basketball season was over, so Zeke didn't have practice anymore. Between his second and third period class, Zeke went to Ms. Darvis's room.

Usually Ms. Darvis intimidated the hell out of Zeke—she was dramatic and loud and always had her head in the clouds. But she never picked on him in homeroom so he was on her good side.

"Hey Ms. Darvis, I was wondering if I could ask you a question?" Zeke said, poking his head through her door.

"What is it, Zeke? I am very busy with the Spring Musicaaale," Ms. Darvis responded.

"Well, that's exactly what I came to ask you about, actually…" Zeke said.

"—You have come to talk to me about the Musicaaale? Why, does your coach wish to interrupt my Musicaaale again?" Ms. Darvis interrupted.

"No, no. Basketball season's over, Ms. Darvis. I actually came to see if I can help out in any way. Maybe work backstage?" Zeke said.

Ms. Darvis's eyebrows shot up, clearly confused that _another_ basketball player wanted anything to do with her Musicaaale.

"If you're serious about this, then fine. But any funny business and you and Bolton are both out. You understand?" Ms. Darvis said.

"Yes, yes ma'am! Don't worry," Zeke said excitedly, partially confused as to what he had just committed to.

"Be at the auditorium after school today by 2:45, sharp," Ms. Darvis replied.

Zeke flashed his toothy white smile again and closed the door.

What had he just gotten himself into? _Wow,_ he thought. _This is all really happening._

The rest of the day went by so slowly he almost exploded. He was in a great mood, though, and even gave away all the baked goods he kept in his locker for special occasions.

At 2:40, Zeke was seated in the auditorium, ready for the afternoon rehearsal. He had no idea what he was doing—the last time he was onstage was for his church's Christmas concert when he was eight. Slowly kids filtered into the room, mostly people he only barely recognized from some of his classes. He saw Troy and Gabriella waltz in, hand in hand, twirling and playfully practicing the opening number. It wasn't long before Zeke caught Troy's eye. Troy ran over to Zeke.

"Hey man! What's up? What're you doing in here?" Troy asked.

"Oh, you know…I thought now that basketball season is over I'd, you know, maybe try something else out. I mean, you're doin it so how bad could it be, right?" Zeke nervously said.

"Man I've heard you sing in the shower room and boy, I don't know if you can be in this show," Troy joked, laughing.

"Oh god no, I do not plan on performing. I'll leave that to you and Gabriella. I'm gonna work backstage, you know, as stage crew or something," Zeke replied.

"Oh, nice! Good. I'm glad I'll have someone from the team here when I need a break from all this…" Troy said.

Zeke didn't hear anything else Troy said to him because he saw that Ryan and Sharpay had come into the room. Ryan was wearing a purple paisley shirt, tight black pants, and his signature cream-colored fedora. Zeke usually didn't like fedoras; his dad always said, "you can't trust a man in a fedora," but Ryan pulled it off beautifully. It was innocent and sweet. Sharpay and Ryan waltzed by Zeke, and he quickly stood up to make a move.

"Sharpay! Hey! How are you?" Zeke asked, flashing his beautiful smile.

"What are _you_ doing here, tall person?" Sharpay responded, her top lip upturned.

"I'm actually Ms. Darvis's latest hire. I'll be working backstage. I'm really excited about it," Zeke said, turning to Ryan.

"Great. All this department needs are more basketball-player-people. Take a hint and go back to your locker room," Sharpay hissed.

Sharpay turned away and walked straight up the stage to, presumably, her self-constructed personal dressing room.

"I'm really sorry about that. She always gets stressed out before rehearsal, it has nothing to do with you," Ryan defended, his blue eyes shining in the low auditorium light.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Zeke said.

"I think it's really cool you're working on the show. Sharpay doesn't like that other people are suddenly involving themselves in the show but I think it's awesome. It's bringing our school together," Ryan said, thoughtful as ever.

"Yeah, you know, I just wanted something new. I want to meet new people…I think you are all really cool," Zeke said, shyly.

"It's a good group. And that's really awesome you'll be working backstage. The greatest part of being in a show is hanging out backstage," Ryan said.

"That sounds awesome. I'm excited to be a part of that," Zeke said.

"RYAN!" Sharpay screamed, her blond head sticking out from behind the stage curtain.

"I gotta go. I'll see you soon!" Ryan said, gesturing to his sister on stage.

"Yeah, see you later," Zeke responded, a little lost in Ryan's eyes.

Ryan broke the eye contact, his lips curled into a soft smile as he headed up to where Sharpay was.

Ms. Darvis introduced Zeke to the stage manager, a nugget of a girl with red streaks through her black hair and a low, authoritative voice. Her name was Katie, and she was also president of the Gay Straight Alliance. _How ironic,_ Zeke thought. During that first rehearsal, Zeke realized that this would not just be a walk in the park. Katie had him running around the entire drama department, collecting different props, organizing the costume closet. He hardly had any time to just watch the rehearsal and sneak in any conversation he could with Ryan. He was sweating by the time rehearsal was over.

"Ready to really do this, man?" Troy asked, noticing how flustered Zeke was.

"If I can handle your dad as my basketball coach, I can handle this," Zeke laughed.

"Alright great. I'll see you tomorrow then, have a good night!" Troy said as he and Gabriella walked out arm in arm.

As Zeke was packing up his backpack, Katie approached him.

"Good job today. It's hard but you'll get used to it soon" She said.

Zeke laughed. "Thanks, Katie. I appreciate that. I look forward to it."

"Before you go, take the contact sheet by the stage. I put together a list of all the contact information of the cast and crew, so that we can all get ahold of one another if we need to," Katie directed.

"Great. Thanks Katie," Zeke said as he approached the papers sitting on the stage.

Sure enough, Ryan Evans's phone number was right there on the page, six from the top. _Swish._

That night as Zeke lay in bed, his phone buzzed on his nightstand. It was from an unknown number.

"Hey Zeke, this is Ryan Evans. Just adding all the new numbers to my phone! "

Zeke's heart fluttered. Was Ryan really just adding everyone's number to his phone and texting them in the middle of the night?

After typing out at least six slightly different variations of a possible reply, Zeke decided to simply send back, "Hey Ryan! Haha sounds good. I'm excited for the show!"

Zeke, of course, was not expecting any sort of reply, but he couldn't take his eyes off of his phone and prayed for that little buzzing noise.

It buzzed.

Zeke grabbed for his phone so quickly it fell to the floor. Scrambling, he picked it up and read another text from Ryan, "Me too. Hey, thanks for those cookies the other day after the basketball game. Sharpay cut out carbs from her diet, so I got to eat them. They were delicious."

Zeke could respond in a lot of different ways—he could shut the conversation down, or he could be bold.

He remembered once day sitting in his grandpa's kitchen as he baked. He had asked his grandpa why he insisted on putting a dash of cayenne pepper into the cookie batter. "You gotta be bold," his grandpa answered, as if putting cayenne pepper into chocolate chip cookies was completely normal.

So, he decided to take the advice of his grandpa and add some cayenne.

"Do you want to come over sometime and I can teach you how to make them?" Zeke sent the message before he could think twice about it.

His phone buzzed almost immediately.

"I'd love to."


End file.
